The fate of privilege and sexuality in the 1800’s unfolds itself in Carmilla, a novella written by J. Sheridan Fanu. Published in 1872, this novella portrays Laura an 18-year-old girl and her father who live in Styria, Austria. Shrouded in solitude, Laura’s life has been lonely as she was isolated from other girls her own age.

At age six, Laura encountered a mysterious woman in her bedroom. Although unexpected, she expressed how she felt comforted by the young woman at her bedside until the young woman punctured her chest by biting her. Laura screams out and her servants come to her aid, only to find her unharmed. With no injury, the staff does not believe a woman was in the room. Laura concludes that it must have been a ghost. As Laura turns 18, her father’s friend, General Rheinfeldt is supposed to visit and bring his niece, Bertha, along with him. After years of isolation, Laura awaits with anticipation about the possibility of friendship. Yet days prior to their arrival, Laura’s family receives a letter informing them that Bertha has died suddenly and unexpectedly. Laura is devastated by the news and the resultant continued solidarity.

Later that evening, a carriage with a frantic woman and her unconscious daughter arrive at Laura’s home. Laura and her father greet the mother who explains that she must hurry to continue her journey and cannot care for her daughter. Laura’s father accepts the young woman into his care to be a friend to Laura. The mother leaves, promising to return in three months. When the young woman finally becomes conscious, they learn that her name is Carmilla. Carmilla perplexes Laura because she resembles the ghost in her dream at age six. Carmilla tells Laura that she too had a similar dream. Carmilla has peculiar tendencies such as sleeping almost the entire day, not saying prayers like everyone else and sleepwalking outside at night. Soon, neighboring towns report to Laura’s father that many young women have come down with some mysterious affliction and are dying. Only woman become sick and die. Laura bonds with Camilla due to her strong desire to have a friend.

Carmilla integrates into the household quickly. Laura finds Carmilla’s fondness for her unsettling. As Laura has never been exposed to any type of sexuality, she is both curious and frightened. The novel’s description of this is filled with foreshadowing:

“’I am sure, Carmilla, you have been in love; that there is, at this moment, an affair of the heart going on.’

‘I have been in love with no one, and never shall,’ she whispered, ‘unless it should be with you.’

How beautiful she looked in the moonlight!

Shy and strange was the look with which she quickly hid her face in my neck and hair, with tumultuous sighs, that seemed almost to sob, and pressed in mine a hand that trembled.

Her soft cheek was glowing against mine. ‘Darling, darling,’ she murmured, ‘I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so.’

I started from her” (Chapter 5).

As the story unravels, Laura must cope with her feelings and seek wisdom from her father once more.

Carmilla is an early example of both gothic and queer literature. At the time when this novella was published, sex was primarily heterosexual in books, and Carmilla challenges these boundaries. Laura’s journey is not just one of discovering the bounds of friendship, but of self-discovery of her own sexuality. Carmilla’s character is pivotal to the progressive nature of the story because most female characters are not so attuned to their power. For the 1800’s, Carmilla’s characters show how suppressed women’s sexuality was and remains. Her ownership of her identity, while portrayed as a villainy, strikes envy in Laura because she lacks ownership of her body and sexual power, a dissatisfying truth for women of the time.